ok so i had a foglight out and i thought the bulb was burned out but it was just a bad ground. so i fixed that and replaced the fuse for the dash lights and rear lights cuz the fuse was carroded and now since i replaced it i have no lights on my cluster and no lights on my aux. gauges under my climate control. idk what happened but i need some help here. so if anyone has some ideas i am open for anything at this point. cuz the car gets inspected at the end of april and it wont pass without them..... thanks to all

car is a 1990 audi quattro. 20v 2.3lt

 

Check the fuse, again. If it is burnt out, you will have to find a wire that is grounding out. I think it is a 5 amp. Doesn't take much to burn out ANY fuse. I have the same problem, and many wires to check out to see just WHICH wire is bad.

Same with a door window switch. Bad wire, and since those flex so much, they DO break.

One way you CAN find a bad wire is to replace the fuse with a really high capacity "fuse", read piece of copper, or wire flattened on the ends to jump the circuit. The bad wire will smoke and melt. When you see smoke start, pull the jumper and hope you don't start a fire. Replace that wire.

I don't seriously recommend that, BUT, it will work.

Had the same problem at work with cranes in the couple hundred amp circuits. Electrician couldn't find a short. Told them to put a chunk of copper in the fuse holder, look for a hole burnt into the steel conduit. There you would find the ground. It worked.

Cheers,

George

 

Hello, I agree with George... but maybe this will help you find the problem quicker. I have had a couple of these cars. Both time my cluster lights failed on me it was the same spot. Check the harness that is in the trunk, where it routes along the hinge when you open the trunk is a big spot for the wires to fail which "will" cause your cluster lights to fail. Usually there is a plastic holder the loom routes through, remove that and check the wires there. I have found damaged wires there. I spliced and fixed the loom there and my cluster lit up everytime. Hope that helps and that yours is a quick fix like mine.
Skiviking

 

Skiviking,

You know, for many years, US cars, at least, when you had burnt out tail lights, cops would stop you, you tell them you didn't know, they'd sarcastically say "Hey, *******, you got dash lights?" Damme, I didn't.

I THINK, though I don't really remember, that my 80, 82, 85, 87, 90, all had separate circuits for the tail lights and the dash lights. 79 my kid wrecked before I got to look it over too much, I don't know.

I DID lay in my trunk for hours to fix bad wires along the left hinge to get my tail end lights, backup, brake, turn, running working properly on that 85 5000S Turbo. The 97 I drive now, I don't know about.

Cheers,

George